Nine year old Ani Rist claims to have murdered her neighbor Andrew Marx three years ago because she 'simply could', but when the police revisit the situation things don't lead where they did in first place. So is Ani Rist guilty of killing her loving neighbor or is there something else...

Lawyer Bret Mike impatiently tapped his shoe against the hideous cream carpeted floor of his office. His hands were lazily rested on his thin paper-like keyboard with a basic and boring report sent by his procrastinated assistant, Margaret Paler, who was currently taking another twenty minute break. Bret would have fired her if she wasn't good at her job, but that wasn't the case. Margaret always delivered, filed, and handled the obnoxious calls of people who all had the same idea to ring his neck. That was numerous amount too. Can't be an excellent business man without making a few enemies. He reminded himself constantly when the days seemed to drag on.

Now waiting for the secretary, he scrolled down the long list of juvenile arrests made that haven't been assigned a lawyer to convince the court their innocence. All that filled his screen were gang breaks and underage-drinking. Nothing that would even spark the interest of the young twenty-seven year old man. Sighing, he closed his sleek Dell laptop and brought his focus to the only picture frame on the glass desk. Inside the basic wooden rectangle was a small girl with natural curly blond hair. Her small white teeth sparkled as she smiled happily, holding a red fishing rod that was taller than her.

"Kita…"

Starring at it deeply as if he was mesmerized by it, the painful memory spread through his mind as a wild fire. Images of a black van, sounds of bullets, and shrill screams of a child penetrated the the stone wall protecting his emotions. His hands pressed down on the keyboard trying to stop the eradicate trembles that shot through his body. Before the wall that took years to create was cracked, a loud protruding knock echoed in the office room.

Bret shook his head violently, snapping out of his hazardous memories. Grumbling at being disturb by his least favorite person in the world, Ms. Paler.

"Come on! Don't be a jerk! Let me in, or I'll kick the door down." This time she yelled louder, if that was possible.

Weighing the pro's and con's in his head, Mr. Mike decided to let the psychotic twenty-four year old woman enter the room. Knowing that it would be best not to have complaints from downstairs about "unnecessary disruptions" which he has been called down for multiple times. Signing, he pushed away from his desk and unlocked the door. His moment of solitude being destroyed."Thank you! I thought I was going to scream to get the door open."

Ms. Paler said placing her hand on her hips. She was average height at 5'7 and allowed her strawberry blond hair cascade wildly on her broad shoulders. Ms. Paler wore her usual work attire which consisted of being a white dress shirt that was covered with a black jacket with a black skirt reached her knees.

"Yeah, that would of been terrible." he glared at her.

Throwing another carefree laugh in the air, Ms. Paler handed her boss a vanilla folder that was stocked with a reasonable amount of papers. Mr. Mike produced a dubious impression.

"It's not as you think. This case is actually an interesting one." She answered in a reassuring voice.

"Really," he asked still not convinced, "I have scrolled through report after report trying to find something that doesn't have teenagers breaking into houses and stealing cars. There's nothing challenging my skills."

"Well, it doesn't have to deal with adolescences. That's for sure. It ranks a little bit under that range, though. It's about a nine-year old kid that 'murdered' her neighbor."

She commented a glint of satisfaction shadowing her bright, blue eyes as he immediately began reading the child's basic information.

Name: Ani Pronesis Rist Race: White

Birth Date: March 17, 1999 Gender: Female

Age: 9 Address: Carley Avenue 213

Mother's Maiden Name: Julia Evermint Father's Name: Charles Rist

Reason: Nine year old Ani Rist is arrested for murder of thirty-six year old, Andrew Marx three years ago. Andrew Marx was found dead in his backyard with two knife stabs in his lower back in March on Carley Avenue 132. After interviewing every person on the street none had claimed for Andrew Marx for displaying any irrational or unusual behavior or habits. The police finding no suspects or concrete evidence of the murdered declared it to be a cold case file.

Interview Information:Ani Rist claimed these words when being interviewed at age six. Her reaction was confused, normal behavior for any child at that age.

"I don't know who would kill Mr. Marx. He was a sweet man and always said 'Hello' to me in the morning when I played in the front yard."

This document has been signed and approved by the Court.

Rereading the file over, including school records, to be sure he didn't miss anything, Mr. Mike had his eyebrows raised as if he was scanning the CIA's secrets. Ms. Paler stood a favorable distance away, giving her boss a reasonable amount of personal space. She rocked back on her heels waiting with anticipation on his response. A shuffle of papers, Mr. Mike slammed the folder on his desk and picked up the iphone and began dialing with great pace.

Only with a moment's hesitation, she asked. "So did I do good?"

Bret glanced at his secretary with joyous eyes impatiently waiting for a voice on the other end. "Good? Margaret, this is great!"

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